RaeAnne is 14!

I can't believe that my baby is growing up!!   December 21st she turned fourteen years old!   Her BFF Hollie was here from Lindsborg for the occasion.   We couldn't start the Winter Solstice without snow and our Kansas weather didn't disappoint.   They were predicting anywhere from 2 to 10 inches of snow with wind.   The girls went to Taekwondo practice that morning and then we were going to go to RaeAnne's choice of restaurant for dinner but the snow scared us off.   We did eat at IHop for lunch and that satisfied the girls for the afternoon.   They had to eat tuna casserole for supper but that was a hit too.

After we ate we got all the candles on Rae's cake.   She couldn't quite get them all blown out in one breath, it took her two.   Then we gave her present to her.   She was thrilled.   All she had been asking for her birthday and Christmas has been tickets to see 1 Direction in concert.   Dad and I looked into that and the closest they will be to us in 2014 is St. Louis, Missouri in August.   That would be after school had started.   The concert is on a Wednesday night so she would have to miss at least one day of school.   Dad suggested that I could drive her down and she could take one or two of her friends.  Well we found out that the tickets alone for four people would be $800.!!   So we had to break her heart and we gave her the next thing that she wanted which is a video camera.   This will be great to have a videographer in the family!!

Hollie and RaeAnne have been besties since Kindergarden.

Happy Bithday RaeAnne!   We love you to the moon and back!!

The next day we took RaeAnne and the crew to eat at HuHot.   That is a family favorite, well except for Mom, but I will put up with it for my girl!!

Tessa's red cast is off!

I am playing catch up.   December 17th I had my last dose of radiation!!!!   I am so glad that treatment is over!   Now let me catch up on Tessa.

December 18th we were in Overland Park at Children's Mercy South to have Tessa's cast taken off.

 We were anxious to see what her new hand looked like and so was Tessa.   The office was very full and it was obvious that they were busy.   After a long wait we were called back and Tessa was taken first to the cast removing room.   The nurse explained to Tessa what she was going to do.   The nurse told Tessa that the saw was very loud but it would not cut or hurt her in any way.   The nurse then put earplugs in her ears and started up the saw.   Tessa immediately asked if she could have some earplugs!   The nurse gave her some and got right down to work.   In no time the red cast was cut in half and removed.   Tessa made some very funny faces during that time!

After the cast was off, there was still the cotton wrap to remove from her arm and thumb.  Tessa watched the nurse very closely.  We finally got to see the thumb.   It had a pin in it just like the Doctor had told us it would.   Tessa was not very impressed with the thumb.   She said it looked funny and she really didn't like looking at the pin.   The thumb is still swollen but looks great to Dad and I.   Tessa then went to x-ray and we were put in an exam room.

Dr. Cheng came in and asked Tessa how it looked.   Tessa didn't lie, she told her she didn't like it!  The Dr. told her the same thing that we had, that once the swelling is gone it will look great.   Dr. Cheng removed the pin said that she would like to put a waterproof cast on it for a couple more weeks just to make the thumb more stable as it was still kind of "floppy."   So we headed into another room with another nurse who put on her waterproof cast.   She can actually go swimming in this cast, take showers or baths without having to wrap it in plastic and try and keep it dry.   She will get this cast off on December 27th.   She picked green for this cast in keeping with the Christmas colors.

I noticed that the return visit cards said that she will be having a cast "change" on the 27th but the Dr. had told us that she would be getting her cast off that day.   I will have to call and confirm exactly what will happen.   Right now she has been doing great with this lighter weight cast.   The hardest part is remembering to get the cast wet at least once a day.   They told us if we didn't that it could very easily stick to her skin when it is taken off.  Here she is with the green cast at home for RaeAnne's birthday...that is another post!!

Christmas is in the air.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!   At least in our little corner of the house.    I put the Christmas tree up the Monday after Thanksgiving and tonight the girls decorated it.   That was after Mom fell UP the stairs trying to get the big box of ornaments up to the living room.   Fortunately I didn't break anything and only took a little skin off my arm on the wall!

My helpers hung all the ornaments and they laughed a little over some ornaments that they had made over the years.   I had to give the oldest two the "As long as you are living in MY house you will follow MY rules speech to get them to wear a Santa hat and pose in front of the tree for me.   If you look close you will see a little look of unhappy with Mom glaze in their eyes!

It always makes me think of my Mom when we put up the tree as she made me so many ornaments in her last few years that I absolutely LOVE.   I miss you Mom!   I am sure that she is watching from above and is enjoying our Christmas too.

And our Christmas season would not be complete without Dasher here!   Our elf arrived Friday night and right in our undecorated tree.  Maybe he was trying to tell us something?!

Happy Holidays!!

Surgery done!

We had a very cold start to our day.   The one thing we did not have was snow.  Yeah!!  We were up early and on our way to the hospital by 7:15a.m.

 After we arrived at the hospital we were told that the Doctor was running behind on her first surgery.   They got Tessa's height and weight and we were put in a room to wait.   Tessa was given the choice of playing with an I-pad, DS or to watch a movie, she chose the I-pad.   We visited with anesthesia and met the nurse who would be taking care of Tessa during the surgery.   Then we sat in the room for a long time.   I was falling asleep several times.  Soon they came in and said that the doctor would be in very shortly to see us before the surgery.

Then it was time for Tessa to go to surgery.   I walked with her part way and then they sent me to the waiting room.   There I could have all the hot chocolate or coffee that I wanted!   I was told if I left the room to let them know so they could give me a phone so they could call me if they needed me.   As it was I stayed in the waiting room the whole time.

Finally the doctor came and told me that the surgery had gone well.   She took off the outside thumb and the inside joint was fine.   The outside joint was "floppy" and she had fused it with a pin that she will remove in December when Tessa has her follow up appointment.   She has a red cast and she is to keep it elevated as much as she can for the first few days.  

We were home before 5pm!  Tessa was a real trooper!

Tessa and I are on a little excursion!

Tessa is having surgery tomorrow morning!   She has decided to have her right hand fixed.    Actually she is having her extra thumb removed!   It was her decision to do this.   We had told her if she ever wanted to have it fixed or not, to let us know.   Well, a while back she visited with both her Daddy and I and now here we are!   The surgeon said that it was a great idea and the right time to do it.   One of the extra thumbs has two growth plates in it and it will grow twice as fast as the other thumb.   The little thumb then would make it hard for her to move her bigger thumb.   So the doctor is going to do her best to make one great thumb out of two mediocre thumbs.

It was rainy and cold today.   The weather forcast was for rain/sleet changing to frizzle and snow.   I made the executive decision to come to the Kansas City area so we were closer and would not have to fight the traffic and possible snow in the morning.   We arrived in time to eat a great breakfast at Bob Evans and then we checked into the Best Western Premier Hotel.   W.O.W.!!!  Nice digs!   Tessa was more than excited just about the room and then when I told her that the pool has a two story water slide it was YEAH!!    Her surgery is at 8:45a.m. so we will leave here around 7a.m.   Tessa will have
to be NPO, but I will sneak down and check out their full serving breakfast.

Tessa had a nice surprise from one of her teachers yesterday afternoon.   Mrs. Portlock stopped by with a gift for her for her surgery!   Tessa was excited and it is put away right now so she can enjoy it after her surgery.   And she will share with her sisters.

 We are ready to hit the hay so we can get up for the big day.   Please keep Tessa in your thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery.   I will update tomorrow!

Quilts

I posted this on my other blog To wrap you in love and blessings and I thought I would share it here too.   All the girls now have 100 Good Wishes Quilts!   I had been collecting squares for quite a while for Jordis' quilt.   For some reason I worried throughout Jordis' adoption that the Chinese Government would decide that Daddy and I were too old to adopt anymore and we might get to the point of travel and have them tell us "Oh so sorry, you are too old."   So I didn't really do much square and wishes collecting throughout the wait for her.   Plus it really went pretty fast.   We saw her in January and had her home in October.   After waiting 15 months for ZoraLin in 2003 and then the wait between Zora and Kendalan to 2006, well 9 months was very fast.

So when we started for Tessa I decided I needed to get serious about collecting squares for both girls.
I really enjoy swapping!  It is fun to get "nice" mail and I think I have a serious material addiction!  Maybe there is a 12 step program to help me with this?!  I have found myself pulling into JoAnn Fabrics and don't remember needing anything from there.   Then I leave the store with fat quarters and other materials!   Each material is more beautiful than the next!

My intention was to sew the quilts myself.   I had taken a couple of refresher courses when we lived in Lindsborg and had made a couple of smaller quilts to get the technique down again.   But when I found out I had breast cancer I felt that I needed to get the quilts done N.O.W.   I felt that everything needed to be completed now.   I had no idea how my battle would go and I wanted to have everything that I had started for the girls completed so that they would not think their old Mom had gotten busy and forgot about them.

Well the girls all have their quilts now.   Kendalan received hers not too long after we moved here.

Now Tessa has hers and she "Loves it!"

And Jordis has hers and she was a little upset about the border and backing at first but it has grown on her.   RaeAnne and Zora's are both REALLY large quilts.   They are full to queen sized.   I used to have them hanging on the walls in Texas, but haven't had that kind of wall space since we moved from there.  

I am still collecting for another quilt right now.   Time will tell if this quilt is put to use.   We are praying that it will be.  There is a little girl in China who literally saved my life.   If it wasn't for her I would not have caught my cancer in time.   She needs a home and what better home than the one who's Mama she saved!

Iwig Family Dairy Farm

The 2013 Fall Festival Celebration was today at the Iwig Farm.   We started off checking out the baby animals.   Baby kitten, baby goat and baby cows.   The girls really liked the calves.   Especially because they had their names and date of birth on their ear tags.   We stood in line for two wagons full and then it was finally our turn.   Then the girls wanted to ride the ponies, but they were packing up the ponies and said that the ponies were tired for the day.  

We checked out some of the vendors who were there.   I bought some Honey.  The girls decided to climb some trees and the tree house.   Then we decided it was time to go home.   The girls had to check out the old tractors.   I can tell that it will be a while before they are farming any land on the tractors.   Of course, I could show them how to drive them, but I won't!!